Jamal Shead

Today at 12:48 PM

Jamal Shead graduated from the University of Houston with a school-record 118 wins under his belt, four NCAA tournament appearances to his name, and recognition as the defensive player of the year in his conference two seasons in a row and as Big 12 player of the year as a senior.

He also left college basketball for the NBA with some money in his pocket and some valuable experiences beyond basketball.

Timing is everything. As Shead began his sophomore season with the Cougars, he was fortunate that the NCAA had been required to drop its pretext of amateurism and allow student athletes to profit from their selling their name, image and likeness. The NIL era was born.

"It changed things for college athletes," Shead told me just before putting together one of the most complete games of his rookie season with the Toronto Raptors — 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including three triples on three attempts, along with three assists and a steal — in a competitive outing against the league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday night. "A lot of people had the opportunity to make money that early, and kind of changes people’s lives. You know, it changed mine.

"It helped me help my parents with just travel. They made every single game for four years and, for those last three years, I got to help them with that travel and just help them be there for me. So for me, it helped a lot. And I think for others, people who are from less fortunate backgrounds, it might help even more."

Shead is scheduled to share some of his experiences in the still-emerging NIL space when he returns from the Raptors road trip — they hope to build on their strong showing against Cleveland and halt their four-game slide when they visit the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night — and when he appears at the inaugural Training Ground Summit on Sunday at the University of Toronto.

He’ll be joined by former ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, who is now the general manager of men's basketball at St. Bonaventure University, along with former Canadian NFLers Tevaughn Campbell and Tevaun Smith.

The conference (free to attend, but requires registration) is aimed at Canadian high school athletes, their parents and coaches to help educate them and answer questions about the opportunities and challenges presented by the NIL marketplace, which has recently been valued at $3 billion.

It's not all roses. The combination of NIL and the ability of athletes to transfer schools without having to sit out a season as in years past has made college sports and whirlwind of constant player transactions that put the NBA trade deadline to shame.

"It's 100 per cent free agency all the time," said Wojnarowski. But has also given athletes and their families opportunities and control that previous generations never had.

Shead can speak to it from the athlete's perspective, while Wojnarowski — famous for his “Woj bomb” breaking news over decades of covering professional basketball — can share his insights on the NIL landscape from the point of view of programs trying to raise money and compete for talent in a rapidly shifting environment where top players at top programs are signing deals with sponsors worth well into seven figures, and where smaller programs have to find efficiencies to attract and retain players.

"I probably wouldn’t be at St. Bonaventure if not for NIL," said Wojnarowski, who left a lucrative role with ESPN to take on the challenge of running the men's program at his alma mater, a small, private Catholic school in Olean, New York, about an hour's drive from the Niagara Falls border crossing. "We’re in a fight. We’re in a fight for our ability to be able to continue to compete at this really high level … in the Atlantic 10 (conference). … I had been working with our collective to raise money to give NIL opportunities to our players … and now it’s, obviously, heightened in the role I have as GM at St Bonaventure. … It’s a challenge, and it’s going to determine whether we can continue to play and compete at this high level."

For Wojnarowski, the opportunity to be in front of a group of aspiring Canadian athletes was too good to pass up. The Bonnies have a long tradition of attracting top basketball talent from the GTA and beyond. Going back to Canadian Olympian Norm Clarke in the 1980s, through national team star and first-round NBA draft pick Andrew Nicholson, the roots run deep, and Wojnarowski wants to reach even more extensively into the Canadian basketball talent pool and building out their NIL strategy is part of it. 

"For a school like Bonaventure, people don’t realize often how unique we are," said Wojnarowski, who graduated from St. Bonaventure in 1991 and was volunteering for the sports and information department when former Toronto high school star Radcliffe “Rocky” Llewellyn was gunning for the Atlantic 10 scoring title. "It fluctuates, but we have between 1,900 and 2,000 students. There’s other schools our size, but they don’t play in leagues like the Atlantic 10 … and so it’s a fight for us, and yet we’ve been able to punch up, and to do that we need to be efficient with your resources. And being efficient, to me, is really mining and spending time and being around that Canadian basketball community, because it makes too much sense. Kids in (Southern Ontario) can come to St. Bonaventure, and their families can see them play, they’re close to home. It can be a real win-win."

As with NIL opportunities, which can provide more than just dollar value. For Shead, it was the experience he gained dealing with business partners, sponsors and agents made the transition to the NBA less of a shock.

"I think that also is another positive benefit of having, you know, just a little bit of experience (with money)," said Shead. "And I think that, you know, if you do it the right way, and you have people that are good enough around you that can help you and actually teach you a little bit about money, a little bit about agents and you make the right decisions once you get to that professional level, it makes it less of an adjustment."

Seeing beyond the dollars and sense is one of Wojnarowski's messages also.

It's hard to ignore the headlines — incoming BYU freshman AJ Dybansta has signed NIL deals worth a reported $7 million, repping brands Nike and Red Bull, before even setting foot on campus, just a taste of what he'll earn as the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft.

But for hundreds or even thousands of other athletes, it's a chance to earn money they might not ever see if they aren't among the small minority who matriculate from college athletics to the pro ranks, and also a chance to build relationships and grow horizons that can be useful after graduation, whether you end up playing professionally or not.

"With NIL, yes, there’s money that could be earned at the higher levels, or lots of levels of — in our instance — college basketball, but it’s also a professional development opportunity. It’s a professional growth opportunity," said Wojnarowski. "It’s a chance to work with companies, to understand the value that you have and the value you can bring, and how to be a partner in that way … and what I’ve been trying to do in bringing in lots of companies and potential businesses that would have relationships with us is give our players, give our students access to these individuals and get to know those people and keep those relationships — because you're not going to play forever, the ball is going to stop bouncing sometime … and so I think making young people aware of the opportunities (is valuable). And also money management, and how to grow the relationships, and to have a level of professional development that can come at a pretty young age, you know? And so those will all be some of the things we talk about on Sunday."

Shead will talk about it having lived it. He's earning $1.86 million this season and $1.96 million next season, with a club option for $2.3 million in 2026-27 with the Raptors, which is a nice sum of money for a 22-year-old, but not overwhelming, Shead feels, because he came to the NBA with a grasp of how the professional landscape works, thanks to his experience at Houston and with NIL.

"I did a good job saving. And I think people at Houston, our NIL people who helped us along the way, did a great job of teaching us about saving money and how to do it the right way," said Shead. "So I think it’s just been beneficial."

His message to athletes and their families on Sunday?

"There's some good and some bad, but I think that one really positive thing they should understand that you go into college and it’s for free, and you also have a chance to make money while it’s free, while getting an education. That’s a positive, man," he said. "You’re literally going to play the sport you love. You’re getting taken care of on a daily basis for free. You’re getting paid every day, and you have a chance to make a lot of money also, while just really learning the game and having a chance to go professional."